Droid Life » Wazehttp://www.droid-life.com
An intense Android news community bringing you the latest in phones, rooting, apps, and reviews.Tue, 03 Mar 2015 18:24:54 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1Starting Today, Google Now Will Notify You of Incidents to Avoid on Your Tripshttp://www.droid-life.com/2014/03/24/google-now-road-incidents/
http://www.droid-life.com/2014/03/24/google-now-road-incidents/#commentsMon, 24 Mar 2014 22:35:48 +0000http://www.droid-life.com/?p=135596Starting Today, Google Now Will Notify You of Incidents to Avoid on Your Trips is a post from: Droid Life
]]>We’ve all had that feeling — driving for hours and then finding out it’s all in vain because of a traffic incident that could have been avoided. Actually, I haven’t, but if you have you’ll be glad for Google Search’s latest addition to Google Now. Through Now, Google will send you notifications if you are likely to run into traffic situations (incidents) during a trip.

Presumably, Google will take a look at your regularly made trips to provide these barrier notices, and will push notifications to affected people. Also, Google’s purchase of Waze looks to finally be paying off, with the incidents feature only available because of users of the app reporting them.

If you have the latest Google Search update, you should be eligible to receive these new notifications.

Google took to their Maps Facebook page to announce this latest update. When it rolls out to you, it will bring Waze traffic reports to 46 more countries and territories. Unfortunately, they do not go into any more specifics on what this update will entail, and since it is a staged rollout, we do not have the changelog to share with you. We will keep you updated as soon as we hear more.

Back in June, Google acquired Waze for reportedly over $1 billion. Today, the official Waze app is finally starting to see some Google-esque changes, with a Google-powered search bar now visible whenever you are viewing the application’s map. In addition, the app has received somewhat of a UI makeover, now cleaner and minimal, allowing users to more easily see what is on the map.

On top of all of that, 1080p devices now have full support, as well as some good bug fixes and optimizations.

What’s New:

Search bar accessible on map

Cleaner map UI – elements on map appear based on distance and duplicate reports grouped together

It has been only a few months since Google bought community-influenced map service Waze, but they are starting to incorporate its features into their own Google Maps service. In a new update, Google Maps will begin to feature reports of accidents, construction, road closures and more from Waze. So as the community-mapping service is filled with information from its users, the benefits will push forward onto the mapping service that most of you use, Google Maps.

The Waze integration will be available on Android and iOS in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Germany, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Switzerland, UK and the US.

Also, Waze will receive an update that will introduce Google Search and Street View. So no, Google isn’t ready to kill it off just yet.

Google announced this morning that it has acquired Waze, a GPS and social traffic application that updates routes and drive information in real-time thanks to a community of users. Through Google Play alone, it has anywhere from 10-50 million downloads, but is on iOS as well.

The app has voice navigation, shows community-contributed road alerts, learns from your frequently traveled routes, and can even find the cheapest gas station on your way. But it also takes on a social function, in that your friends can join Waze, and be seen as you all attend a concert or arrive for a dinner reservation.

Google will use Waze to continue to beef up their Maps applications, which are already the best in the business. They point out specifically in today’s announcement that they are “excited” about the prospect of “enhancing Google Maps with some of the traffic update features” already used by Waze. In the press release for the acquisition, they are hoping to “outsmart traffic together.”

The Waze team will remain in Israel and operate separately for now. Reports suggest that the acquisition of Waze cost Google over $1 billion.

]]>http://www.droid-life.com/2013/06/11/google-buys-waze-social-traffic-service-hopes-to-outsmart-traffic-together/feed/63Waze 3.0 Update Now Live In Market, Redesigned User Interface And Social Location Stackhttp://www.droid-life.com/2012/01/31/waze-3-0-update-now-live-in-market-redesigned-user-interface-and-social-location-stack/
http://www.droid-life.com/2012/01/31/waze-3-0-update-now-live-in-market-redesigned-user-interface-and-social-location-stack/#commentsTue, 31 Jan 2012 21:13:08 +0000http://www.droid-life.com/?p=60119Waze 3.0 Update Now Live In Market, Redesigned User Interface And Social Location Stack is a post from: Droid Life
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Waze is one of those apps that turns your daily commute into a social network. You might think you don’t need it, but when you see people taking shortcuts to work that you never knew about, you are going to wish you were part of that in-crowd.

The newest update to Waze brings a newly enhanced interface which is easy-to-navigate and minimal. Along with the new look, Waze is now integrated into even more of your social networks including Foursquare and Yelp. You can find a dining spot on these apps, then have Waze take you there. It is just the thing you might like if you love having your friends tied into everything you do.

Waze 3.0 update includes:

New Minimalist UI:
The new graphic redesign takes full advantage of Android phones’ screen size by minimizing the Waze interface to display only 2 large buttons on a full screen map. In addition, a new display of traffic and events en route helps drivers makes the smartest travel choices before they leave. The guidance system has also been amplified with large fonts and complete text-to-speech capabilities for optimized hands-free navigation — plus the new aesthetic gives the app a little more swagger and style.

The New Social Location Stack:
Traditional GPS systems are built on static, old world maps and points of interest, which never reflect real-time information about new businesses, pop-up shops, or live local events. The new social eco-system provides a combination of consumer-generated data from people driving, checking in, and reviewing locations in real-time. This layer of social location information is now available to drivers in a navigation setting. With community-curated data from Waze, Foursquare, and Yelp, drivers can now search for real-time events as easily as they would find their local Walmart.